Krist Krueger

Not long ago DIY meant hiss and rumble and inscrutable dreams, a sonic manner of standing athwart commercial paradigms either by choice, necessity or pretension. The painterly control-freak pop of Southerly (a.k.a. Krist Krueger) suggests an alternative view of self-shaped recordings, one in which the absence of a band or semi-omniscient producer reveals the lush, melodically rich multitudes within. Krueger found considerable emotional mileage in that approach, but on last year's Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist he enlisted a flesh-and-blood pop orchestra, echoing (if not emulating) the collectivism of the Decemberists or Tindersticks, building twang-speckled, slow-burn piano, feedback and string suites that lift Krueger's contemplations out of pure solipsism. He'll be appearing solo at the Lemp Arts Center — and into a more universal, melancholic atmosphere.